King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 26

The King of the Underworld is Tired 26 (26/82)

The Story of Pluto’s Temple – (3)

In the end, I compromised appropriately.

“Next to you is the Goddess Lethe, who oversees the River of Forgetfulness, and the one who governs the River Styx…”

“Then, did Lord Pluto marry both of them?”

“The Goddess Styx who is in the River Styx when you swear an oath…”

The statues of Goddess Lethe and Goddess Styx were placed next to my statue in the temple.

And the two goddesses were looking at it with satisfaction.

“Yes, yes. This is right. We even have children together, how could you leave me out? Next time, make sure to include me…”

“Styx… What child is a sword? If you go that far, then Hades and Hephaestus’ child is Bident…”

“Tsk! Don’t mention that weapon that tormented Cyanee!”

How did it end up like this?

Was it Goddess Lethe who caused the problem by boasting everywhere that her statue was erected next to mine?

Or was it Goddess Styx who, after hearing that story, begged me not to leave her out?

And Cyanee is mine…

It didn’t even end there.

“This person is Morpheus…?”

“Huh! Why is there a statue of Thanatos [the personification of death]?”

“So, all these gods live in the underworld?”

Yes, eventually the other gods asked me to erect their statues as well.

Thanatos, who approached me suspiciously, clearing his throat…

Or Hypnos [the personification of sleep], who gave me a look because humans sometimes didn’t recognize him…

“No, even so, isn’t this too much…?”

“That… that is surely the… Revenge…!”

Yes, I also made statues of the Goddesses of Revenge.

Judging by their extreme reaction, humans are also happy.

Humans, who had their eyes stolen by the numerous statues all around, even though it was clearly Hades’ temple, came to their senses and…

Only then did they start to kneel down and pray.

“Oh oh… U, um, let’s pray for now.”

“If I pray to the Goddess of Forgetfulness, will my painful memories disappear?”

Anyway, I didn’t know so many believers would flock here.

I should have used this method to exert influence in the mortal realm sooner.

That’s how a busy day passed with believers coming and going to the temple all day long…

“Lord Hades, again today, there was no story about the monster called Gigas.”

Parona, the high priestess of my temple, finishes her daily work and offers a prayer.

I felt a little sorry for her, as her eyes had turned dark due to the rapidly increasing workload recently.

Examining those who want to become priests of Pluto,

Or commanding the manpower sent by the royal family due to my oracle, or offering sacrifices, etc.

She had a lot of work to do.

In the first place, my temple only had one priest, so it was only natural that Parona would be under a lot of pressure.

Parona finishes her prayer and lies down on the bed as if collapsing.

“Hoo… Today was tough too…”

Still, if you are a priest who sends direct faith to me, I can intervene in this world through their body.

I quietly infused power to relieve her fatigue.

Vitality is transmitted through the invisible thread of faith that connects Parona and me.

“Ah… Fatigue… Lord Hades, thank you.”

Work hard tomorrow too and bring information about Gigas.

* * *

The next day, the god Hermes visited the underworld.

“Hermes, the messenger of all, has come, Great Uncle!”

I wonder if he’s here to tell me what measures Olympus is taking regarding the Gigas?

With a lively face, he reached into his arms and took out a roll of parchment.

“Most of the Olympian gods gathered for a meeting. My father also had a serious face the whole time.”

The gods were summoned by the news that Gigas, a great threat to us, had been discovered.

The possibility of another war was predicted, and methods of issuing oracles to humans to find Gigas were also discussed.

Poseidon, who rules the sea, ordered his subordinates to check the coast and rivers,

Hundreds of eagles under Zeus’ command searched the world thoroughly.

In addition, the god of nature, Pan, and several other gods searched the earth, but…

“No trace of that monster called Gigas has been found. I walked around until my shoes were worn out…”

No, can shoes even get tired? I really don’t understand Hephaestus’ inventions.

I briefly looked at the winged shoes that Hermes was still wearing.

And Hermes said that according to the analysis of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, the Gigas who died to Cadmus was likely to have acted alone, but…

Perhaps Gaia [the primordial goddess of the Earth] sent it out to gauge the gods’ vigilance and reaction.

“If Lord Poseidon and Demeter turn the earth upside down, they will come out, but… well, the lives of humans…”

The reason why we are at a disadvantage in the fight against Gigas.

“That seems to be the problem. Because we have something to protect.”

“That’s right. The situation is different from the Titanomachy [the great war between the Titans and the Olympians] that took place before you were born.”

The war with the Titans was just a total war in which the opposing gods fought with all their might.

But now, there is something to protect: humans, living things.

You might think that if humans are caught up in the fight and die, you can just create them again…

But the gods, who have already become attached to this world, will not be able to make such a decision rashly.

Like the case of Cadmus and Harmonia, many gods fall in love with humans.

How many children did Zeus have with human women?

Even if you exclude that, it is not easy to pretend not to know those who always pray to you and offer faith.

It would be okay to punish a village or a country, but not to wipe out the entire land.

“First of all, I have given orders to the nymphs and lower gods. If Gigas is discovered, contact me immediately.”

And Apollo also issued an oracle at the Delphi Temple to inform humans of the existence of dangerous monsters.

The other gods seem to have taken measures as much as they could.

“Then I’ll go again! Now I have to stop by Demeter too!”

“See you next time.”

* * *

“Hades, grant your grace to the new priests.”

After sending Hermes away, I heard Parona calling for me from the mortal realm.

Several people wearing black clothes knelt before her in the temple.

It seems that the high priestess Parona has chosen believers to help her.

As they all bowed their heads and put their hands together, I felt a sincere faith being conveyed.

Good, everyone was chosen properly.

If they only pretend to pray or pretend to believe in me, I can quickly notice.

“Thank you…”

“Oh oh… This is…!”

“Are you acknowledging us as priests?”

Black divine power wraps around their bodies and shares fragments of power.

The ability to relieve some minor illnesses and allow Parona or me to know if a priest dies.

I have also granted some wealth blessings, so they will not be significantly pushed back by the priests of other gods.

Especially to the followers of Dionysus [the god of wine, fertility, theatre, and religious ecstasy] who are spreading around Thebes.

Gathering believers in Thebes, where Dionysus has established himself, feels like encroaching on my nephew’s playground…

Dionysus, the demigod born between Semele, the daughter of Thebes’ great heroes Cadmus and Harmonia, and Zeus, eventually ascended to the seat of one of the twelve Olympians.

At that time, the twelve Olympian thrones already had owners…

Hestia, the best of the Olympian gods, yielded the golden throne to Dionysus.

It was a problem that humans would be retaliated against several times over if they treated him disrespectfully in the process of becoming a god,

But there is no way to force the god of wine and madness to act gently.

I remember when Pentheus, the king of Thebes who met his death because he offended my nephew, came to the underworld.

“I am really wronged! Lord Hades! I had no choice but to do that for the people of Thebes…”

“….Yes. Drink a little more of the Lethe water and talk…”

“Aaaah! Mother!! Lord Dionysus!!!”

Pentheus, who was killed by his own mother who had fallen into madness, retained his memory even after crossing the Lethe River because his resentment was so great.

It was very unfortunate to see him shouting as if Dionysus’ madness had been transferred to him.

Even Thanatos, who brought him to the underworld, had a bitter expression on his face.

“Moderately… do it moderately. Your madness is hard for ordinary humans to endure.”

“….I will be careful since Great Uncle Hades said so.”

I said this, so he will restrain himself a little…

But can the god of madness really suppress madness?

Even while talking to him, I honestly thought it would be difficult.

* * *

“Hades…!”

“What’s wrong?”

While constantly watching over the mortal realm, this time Goddess Lethe calls out to me.

The emotion felt on her beautiful face is embarrassment and worry.

“I gave blessings to the believers… I think I made a mistake…!”

As she and Goddess Styx and my statue were erected together, many humans mistakenly believed that we were a couple.

So, when they pray to me, many people also pray to her statues next to me…

“There are often believers who ask me to erase bad memories… so I erased them a little…”

I briefly looked at the mortal realm.

“Who are you again?”

“Oh my! Father… don’t you remember me? It’s me!”

“Won’t you get out of the way? I told you not to grab strangers!”

“I heard you were going to pray this morning, but why…”

A white-haired old man who looked like he would soon receive a visit from Thanatos was arguing with a middle-aged man.

But the two seem to be father and son, could it be that the old man doesn’t remember?

“They prayed to me to erase bad memories… so I just erased them a little…”

“How much of that old man’s memory did you erase?”

“I made a little mistake… starting with recent memories and going back about 30 years…”

Oh my god… Goddess, how could you erase about 30 years?

It seems that she made a big mistake in the process of giving power to the believers.

“We need to quickly ask Goddess Mnemosyne [the Titan goddess of memory] to restore his memory.”

“Ugh… They begged me so earnestly, so I just touched it a little…”

I’m sure this was called… amnesia? Dementia?

I grabbed and stretched Goddess Lethe’s cheeks, who was tearful because of the guilt of harming humans by mistake.

The goddess’ soft skin stretches and follows my touch.

“Aughhh! Wha are you doing…?!”

“Always be careful when giving blessings to mortals. Especially since humans can only live for about 100 years at most, you must be even more careful. By our standards as gods, 30 years is a short time, but for humans, 30 years of oblivion is truly a great disaster…”

I don’t know if she’s becoming like Goddess Styx, but I’m nagging without realizing it.

“Okay…”

I didn’t pinch her ears, but why are they so red?